


Shenani-wings

by The Author (Yours_The_Author)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Handplates (Undertale), Canon Divergence, Cryptic Phrases, Do You Get the Joke?, Emmibee x Gaster, F/M, Hotland (Undertale), Looney Tunes References, OBMP AU, Off Brand Mercyplates AU, References to AU Canon, Shenanigans, Skim and You'll Miss Them, Snowdin (Undertale), The Core (Undertale), VeggieTales References, Wings, You Won't Know Unless You've Seen Her Tumblr, emster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24949309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yours_The_Author/pseuds/The%20Author
Summary: More than one new chapter is about to begin! For Emmibee, that new chapter starts with trying to make conversation with Dr. Gaster, who has decided to allow her to stay with him in Snowdin until she can find her own place in the Underground. It goes about as well as one could expect, until Emmibee's new wings decide to create some shenanigans for the two star crossed monsters.
Relationships: W. D. Gaster/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	Shenani-wings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EmmiBee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmiBee/gifts).



> IMPORTANT THINGS TO KEEP IN YOUR IMPORTANCE FILE:  
> -  
> UNDERTALE BELONGS TO TOBY FOX  
> -  
> THE HANDPLATES AU BELONGS TO ZARLA (zarla-s . tumblr . com)  
> -  
> THE OFFBRAND MERCYPLATES AU BELONGS TO EMMIBEE (off brand mercy plates . tumblr . com)   
> -  
> REMOVE THE SPACES IN THE ABOVE PARANTHESIZED PHRASES FOR THEIR WEB ADDRESSES!  
> -  
> THANKS!  
> \---  
> I actually wrote this before the first page of Chapter 2 of the main story came out (check it out! There's going to be color!), so I had no idea where the story would start off. But I was laying in bed one morning, eyes heavy from being awake since five thirty for reasons beyond my comprehension, when I decided to go on my phone and browse the internet, which is what I normally do during the day anyway. As I was looking through the OBMP doodles, I thought to myself, "Gee, Emmibee having wings (because she's a bee badum-tish) must be kind of weird. I mean, a whole new set of appendages must certainly feel weird." Then I found some asks, and someone was like, "Do Emmibee's wings work?" and Emmibee was like ":)" and someone else was like "Do her wings flutter when she's excited?" and Emmibee was like "Ye, and Gaster thinks it's cute [but don't tell anyone!])." ([Keep in mind these are very vague "they were like" conversations; they did not go quite like this]) And then I said to myself, "what would happen if Emmibee's wings started flying on their own and Gaster had to help her get down?" And then after a very, very deep moment of thinking, I came up with this little plot bunny, and I was like, "You know what? Let's do it. Let's make it happen." And now this is where we are now. So to make a long story short: thanks again to Ms. Emmibee for letting me post this!  
> -  
> Enough rambling, though, let's just jump into it!

It was awkwardly silent as Emmibee and Gaster stood in the elevator that went from New Home to The Core. Gaster had watched her quietly as she looked with awe at the Capital's cityscape around the corner from Asgore's house, but now that they were in an enclosed space with nothing but the shiny buttons and each other to look at, he seemed very interested in those buttons.

"…Nice weather, huh?" She said. She then proceeded to stare intensely at the corner of the elevator as Gaster stared just as intensely at her.

"The weather is always the same. Also, technically, there is no weather. We're under a mountain," he replied.

"…Oh yeah."

The awkwardness cut deeper.

Emmi practically leapt out of the elevator when the doors opened, Gaster following more calmly after her. She looked around, once again amazed by the world she had inserted herself into. She had played and watched play-throughs of Undertale enough times to know the basic colors of the world, but there was only so much detail that could be shown via Earthbound-style graphics.

The dark blue walls were polished enough to reflect her face when she stood a foot away, and when she reached out to touch the wall, she felt a warm, thrumming energy zing through her fingertips. The lighter blue floor was also shiny, but not slippery. The traction was great, (there was no need to worry about slipping and falling off a crosswalk and being erased from existence haha what?) and she could feel another energy, this one a bit colder, thrumming through her legs from the floor. It was bizarre and exhilarating and nerve-wracking all at once. Perhaps it was because she was technically a new SOUL, physically _in_ the strange world she had come to love via a video game. She wanted to run, jump, _fly_ — _could_ she fly? She—

"If you've finished examining the wall, we should probably move along," Gaster's voice cut in impatiently.

Emmi blinked and gave an apologetic smile to the skeleton before making a "lead the way" gesture.

They continued through The Core, Gaster leading the way and keeping Emmi from wandering into the wrong rooms out of curiosity. Eventually they reached another elevator, this one leading to a path that was a gradient of blue to orange. They were approaching Hotland.

Emmi looked up and saw a tall building with a pair of glass doors leading into a room lit with a golden light. Gaster paused here. "There are people in here," he said.

"I would hope so," Emmi replied.

"I'd rather not deal with introducing you to everyone at the moment, so keep your head down."

"What's the magic word?" Gaster slowly turned and looked at her. Emmi stared back. They might have stood there for a while if Emmi hadn't decided to let him win this round. "Please. The word was please," she said quietly as she opened the doors and kept her eyes on the floor. Gaster followed after a second.

She would have _loved_ to look at all lights and colors, architecture and people around her, but she was a woman of her word, so down her head stayed. Most of the monsters that were in the building must have been busy with their own thing, though, since no one seemed to call out to her or the doctor.

Then they were out of the building, and Emmi took the opportunity to whirl around and gaze up at the MTT Resort front. Like the Core, it was just like it was in the game, but also… more. The shiny gold letters above the doors glittered, as if there were lights hidden in the surface that twinkled. A humid breeze (?) rustled the bushes adorning the sides of the doors. She could hear chittering laughter coming from one of the alleys beside the building; Catty and Bratty, most likely.

Gaster cleared his throat (? Again?) and Emmi quickly snapped to attention and followed him away from the Resort, deep into Hotland. True to its name, it was hot. She wiped sweat from her forehead multiple times, and the hot steam puzzles didn't help matters (turns out such puzzles are a lot harder to do when you can't see all the launch platforms from above). Gaster wasn't of much help either, but he sighed with what Emmi hoped was a bit of relief and a smidgen of pride when she landed on the other side of the final puzzle.

After wandering along the craggy orange paths for what felt like another half hour, they reached the Lab. "Air conditioning!" Emmi breathed.

Gaster glanced at her. "Only for less than a minute."

"It's all I need." The doors opened, and Emmi sped walked into the cool air, taking deep, sighing breaths and smiling up at the ceiling.

"Dramatic," Gaster muttered, shaking his head. From the corner of her eye, it looked like Gaster had a slightly amused smile on his teeth. Probably the best interaction she had had with him yet.

The first thing Emmi noticed about the Lab was how… clean everything was. There were no trash bins full of ramen noodle cups or crumpled up papers, no tables covered in anime figurines and more papers, and the big computer that she recalled Alphys using to monitor the player was gone. It almost looked empty without it all. Emmi thought to ask about it, but figured questions were probably better saved for once they reached Snowdin.

Once back outside the Lab, Gaster led her down a flight of stairs to the river. The stone floor changed from orange-y red to a deep blue, and the cooling sound of rushing water eased Emmi's nerves in a way she hadn't noticed she needed.

And there, as if they had been waiting for the two of them, was the Riverman (or River woman? It didn't matter). "Tra la la. More than one new chapter is about to begin. Would you like to ride on my boat?"

"Hmm. Haven't heard that one before," Gaster said, more to himself than to Emmi, but he stepped onto the boat and sat on the seat directly behind the Riverperson. Emmi carefully sat opposite him, slinging off the back pack Asgore had given her and putting it under her seat. "Snowdin," Gaster requested.

"Please," Emmi finished, rolling her shoulders and arching her back a bit. Her wings (yes, she reminded herself for the twentieth time, she had wings now) weren't super sensitive, but the pressure of having a relatively heavy backpack press into them for an hour felt… weird. Out of curiosity she tried to flutter her wings a bit. Nothing happened. It was like trying to tell you hand to move, the way you tell yourself what to have for breakfast: it just doesn't work that way.

"Please and thank you. Magic words, indeed," The Riverperson said. Suddenly, the boat rose above the surface of the water. Emmi gasped in surprise and clung to the seat with her hands.

Gaster raised a bone brow at her. "I had assumed you knew that this happened sometimes," he said. There was that barest trace of what Emmi could only hope was amusement.

"Seeing it happen is different from actually being there," she explained, easing her grip.

"Tra la la. Look, it likes you."

"What?" Emmi and Gaster turned to the front of the boat. The head of the boat was shaped like a dog/cat hybrid, and it seemed to have turned its head to smile at her. Emmi found herself rising to her feet and reaching towards it; to give it a head pat or hug, she wasn't sure. "Aww…" she cooed. She was so focused on the doggy-kitty, she barely heard the fluttering sound behind her, like brand new sheets of cellophane flapping in the wind at high speed. She also didn't notice Gaster looking over her shoulder with something akin to wonder.

"We are off," The Riverperson said.

…Huh?

The boat jerked forward and bounded across the surface of the water. Emmi probably would have fallen back onto her seat under other circumstances, but the flapping sound stopped with a snap, and she looked behind her just in time to see her wings spread out like a sail before the sudden burst of air flowing by sent her flying back off of the boat. "AAAAAAA—!"

PING!

Something blue flashed in her vision and she felt a pair of hands scoop under her arms and pull her back to the boat. One second later, her face was in a warm fabric surface and there was a wheezing sound in her ear.

It was easy enough to put two and two together: her wings, acting on their own accord, went kite-mode and sent her airborne. Gaster had summoned magical hands to grab her before she went too far, and now she was in his arms. She couldn't pinpoint what the wheezing sound was, though.

She peeked up at the skeleton and saw him staring down at her, both eyes glowing a mix of yellow and pink. The wheezing sound was coming from between his clenched teeth. Apparently, if you startled a skeleton enough, they'd start wheezing. They stared at each other for all of five seconds. Emmi broke the silence with the first thing that came to mind:

"Ehhh… What's up, Doc?" Then she smacked her face back into Gaster's chest to suppress her hysteric laughter.

"Tro lo lo," the Riverperson laughed. Gaster did not seem to see the humor of the situation.

"DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" He cried with what was so obviously worry and concern, Emmi was now wheezing herself, trying to stop laughing. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'D DO IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU?!"

Emmi sobered quickly at that. She looked up at him again. "What would you do?" she asked.

"…" Gaster opened his jaw, then shut it again, desperately trying to come up with something clever and witty and aloof. "…I don't know," he finally said. "Just… don't do that again."

"Okay. I'm sorry, Dr. Gaster," Emmi replied, even though she technically hadn't meant to do any of this.

"A bee in the hand is worth two bushes," the Riverperson quipped.

"What does that even _mean?_ " Gaster groaned.

"We've arrived. Tra la la, both of you." The boat dropped like a rock onto the surface and Emmi yelped, clinging tightly to Gaster. She hadn't noticed it had gotten colder until she was no longer about to fall off the boat, but looking out to the side, she saw a pretty layer of white snow covering the ground next to the river.

Gaster quickly stood, grabbed a strap of Emmi's back pack, and got off the boat, crunching the snow underfoot. The boat got back up on its legs, turned around, and ran back the way it came.

Gaster and Emmi stood there for a few seconds. Or rather, Gaster stood. He had yet to put Emmi down, and as much Emmi would have liked to stay near his warm, beating SOUL, she knew he'd never forgive her if she let him walk into the town with her like this. "You can put me down now, doctor," she said.

Gaster blinked and scrambled to put her down without actually throwing her tiny body onto the snow, shoving the backpack into her arms when he had accomplished this. He straightened his lab coat and cleared his throat. "Ahem. Yes. Well, my house is less than a minute away. You should probably put on your coat."

Emma made to reach into her bag, then paused and shook her head. "I can handle it."

"…What?"

"I can handle it for a bit. Let's go."

"There is literal ice on the ground."

"I kind of like the cold."

"Your wings could freeze off."

"Then we should move quickly, huh?"

"…Fine." Emmi grinned up at him, pleased she had claimed her first verbal victory. Gaster adjusted his glasses, then blinked again and forced his hands to his sides. His eyes were still glowing, though they were much more pink than yellow now. "Let's go. We have much to discuss—"

"Um, doctor?"

"What is it?"

"Your eyes," she gestured to his face. "You might want to—"

Gaster put his hand to his good eye and seemed to notice the pink light reflecting on his bones. He blushed and blinked rapidly until the light went away. _Yep,_ Emmi thought. _This is the man I'm going to care for along with his children for the rest of my life. So fine._

"Let's go," Gaster repeated, pointing down the path. "And… thank you, for… that."

"You're welcome, Dr. Gaster."

**Author's Note:**

> In the actual version of chapter two, the Riverperson doesn't actually appear, meaning Emmi and Gaster have to walk all the way to Snowdin. And there was much rejoicing (for us, not them).  
> -  
> Aside from the before and after notes, this story is basically the exact same version I posted to Emmibee's tumblr, but I should make a note here that Ms. Emmibee clarified herself: she doesn't actually like the cold all that much. I had originally concluded that since Snowdin was Emmibee's favorite area of the Underground, "no contest", she must like cold weather and the tiny Gyftmas village aesthetic. I was maybe a quarter of the way right; she likes it because it reminds of her of her own small-town-heart, and it's a very homey and cozy and comforting place. And really, do you need a better reason to like where you live?  
> -  
> What if you just… had wings all of a sudden? Some earlier, in-my-mind-only versions of this scenario involved Emmi getting so excited that her wings flutter rapidly and she can't stop, making her hover in the air near the ceiling and be unable to get down. A bit too comical, though, and I thought it'd feel more purposeful and more in line with the established logic of Emmibee's wings (they can flutter when she's excited but they're not powerful enough to fly, and Gaster thinks it's cute when she flutters them). My little head canon for this was that Emmi's wings react to other emotions, such as sticking out when surprised or drooping when she's sad. (Technically in the actual story, though, Emmi is wearing a shirt that covers her wings, so she probably couldn't actually do this. Oh well, fluff is fluff.)  
> -  
> *Bites a carrot* Ehhh… What's up, Doc? I have no idea if Emmibee would be the type to quip in a situation as sudden as the one seen here (Ms. Emmibee did not confirm or deny), but minds do weird things sometimes; something I'm all too familiar with myself. Why Looney Tunes? I don't know, I couldn't think of a better quote that mentions a doctor (wait, here's one: I'm a doctor, not an escalator!) (That's Star Trek, which I don't own).  
> -  
> Do you ever think about how most of the games we play wouldn't be nearly as playable from a first-person perspective? Like, Animal Crossing? I'd get lost, I can't see the end of the horizon. Earthbound? Pretty sure I wouldn't be able to tell which rooms I'd already been in. Undertale? Get out of here with your aerial point of view, you will never see the other side of the steam puzzle.  
> -  
> In the Handplates AU by Zarla, all skeletons can glow their eye sockets, and different colors mean different things. Gaster's eyes glow pink and yellow here; yellow usually means fear or stress (and is also Gaster's natural color; skeletons have a natural color, typically the first color they glow when they're born/made), and pink means surprise or embarrassment. Gaster becomes more embarrassed once he realizes he's been holding Emmi like a teddy bee (buy yours today!) to himself for half a boat ride, and it takes a second for him to return to his stoic, cool-guy persona. He really does appreciate Emmi looking out for his dignity, though.  
> -  
> I actually loved writing the Riverperson more than I thought I would? They're just so cryptic while also being straightforward, but in a way that I? Like? Get? And understand? It's like they're speaking in poetry while also screwing with their patrons, and I'm just down for that. I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone, but the line "More than one chapter is about to begin" refers to the meta of the story's literal next chapter beginning soon, as well as the chapter in the life of Emmi, the life of Gaster, the life of the boys, and the life of them all as a family. Also, "A bee in the hands is worth two bushes" is a play on "an apple in the hand is worth two bushes" (See Veggietales: Larry Boy and the Bad Apple [which I don't own]), which is a play on the actual phrase "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". Technically, this phrase means "you should be content with what you have instead of losing it all to get more", but I've always read it as "a small amount of something hard to get brings more joy than a lot of somethings you could see any day of the week." In this instance in the story, the Riverperson is referring to the latter, and is also just commenting on how rare it is for Gaster to be holding any person, and especially a special bee that got to him through special means.  
> -  
> Okay, that's all of my notes. Please check out the people mentioned at the top of the page; they deserve all the love! I'll see you around. Until then!


End file.
